Britney Spears is a kitten with a whip in 'Work Bitch' video

Well, that’s certainly an interesting product placement: a woman uses a Beats Pill as a ball gag. Yes, with approximately 29,895 or so shots of Britney Spears in her new video for “Work Bitch,” the image of an extra is the one that I took away. In part because it’s one of the more creative, if not repellant, ways I’ve seen a blatant product placement in a video and, quite frankly, it’s the most interesting thing in the video.

First, let’s give Spears credit where it’s due. She and her hair extensions look beautiful and healthy and fit in a way that she hasn’t in quite some time and that’s nice to see.

For the most part, the Ben Mor-directed video is a big tease and the song still sounds like it should be used in an ad for 24-Hour Fitness. Spear has a whip, but she’s not really interested in using it other than as a little love tap twice. If you want someone who can actually do an S&M video, than Rihanna’s still your gal. Spears is much more interested in merely posing, in every sense of the word. The video is a hodgepodge of different images that don’t remotely connect with each other, whether Brit’s posing by a pool with black wig-clad women (so she’s the only blonde) in leather outfits or on a white platform in the middle of the desert as a Lamborghini goes by surrounded by leather clad women or dancing in a club surrounded by... oh, forget it, you get the idea... Oddly, she also surfaces in formal wear on a riser in the middle of a pool as a shark goes by and she’s surrounded by no one. Don’t even get me started on the exploding mannequins. The one unifying factor is that Spears looks lovely and has been impeccably styled in her 10 or so costume changes.

While her dancing has certainly improved, that’s not really saying that much, especially since Spears dances in only a few scenes that seldom last more more than a few seconds, But it feels churlish even writing that when it’s clear that she’s definitely doing so much better than she was just a few years ago.

At this point, we’re all rooting for Spears because everyone is so relieved that she seems to be in a good place mentally and physically, but to extend that to act as if she’s groundbreaking in any way, especially in this video, is just too much work, bitch.